Federal Contractors Must Comply with New OFCCP Rules by March 24

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) two recently finalized rules go into effect March 24. The rules drastically alter federal contractors’ existing affirmative action and nondiscrimination obligations with respect to veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Of most concern to construction contractors are provisions requiring written documentation and tracking of workforce statistics to determine whether the percentage of protected employees meets affirmative action requirements for federal projects. Such paperwork and reporting provisions are completely new to the construction industry.

NOTE:ABC’s lawsuit against the Section 503 rule remains pending, and it is not yet known whether parts of the 503 rule will be stopped from going into effect on March 24. The VEVRAA rule has not been challenged in court and will be going into effect on March 24.